History

Origins of the Polymer Physics Group

A meeting on the “Physics of Polymers” was held on January 10 - 12, 1961 in Bristol. This is believed to be the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. The organisers did not identify themselves as a Polymer Physics Group. A report on the meeting was later published: D.C. Bassett, British Journal of Applied Physics (1961) 12, 261.

The Polymer Physics Group was initiated following an informal meeting between Ian Ward, Andrew Keller, Arthur Charlesby, Geoff Allen and David Whiffen in 1963. Ian Ward had recently returned from working in the USA and proposed that a group was set up similar to that organised by the American Physical Society.